WILLIAMSPORT, Md., July 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Potomac Edison, a
subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), is rebuilding a power
line and constructing a new substation to enhance service
reliability for more than 1,200 electric customers in mountainous,
densely forested northern Frederick
County, Maryland.
The $4 million project includes
rebuilding nearly six miles of a 12-kilovolt (kV) distribution line
from Wolfsville, Md., to a new substation that will be built near
Foxville. Construction crews are setting new 45-foot wooden
utility poles in existing right-of-way and replacing mostly
single-wire distribution circuit
with a new three-wire line to increase capacity.
Smart technology capable of detecting irregular conditions also
will be installed on the line. Programmable electronic
circuit breakers or "reclosers" can automatically isolate damage
and reconfigure the distribution network to use an alternate
pathway for power, helping to limit the scope of outages and
shorten their duration. The line is expected to be completed
later this summer.
The new substation site is located in the Foxville area and will be interconnected to a
nearby 138-kV transmission line. County officials recently
approved the substation plans. The company is in the process
of securing the necessary permits to start construction on the
substation later this summer with plans for it to be completed and
operational before year-end.
"The distribution circuit that currently serves our Potomac
Edison customers in the Myersville
and Wolfsville areas runs through woods and has been prone to
tree-related outages," said James A. Sears,
Jr., FirstEnergy's president of Maryland Operations.
"This project is designed to enhance reliability and reduce
service interruptions by using the new substation to divide the
existing 114-mile line into two shorter circuits providing
electricity to about 600 customers each."
The new substation will include a transformer that converts
higher transmission voltages to lower distribution voltage levels
that can be used to power electrical devices at homes and
businesses. The substation also will contain a circuit
breaker and relay devices, which automatically interrupt the flow
of electricity to protect equipment from falling trees, vehicle
accidents or lightning strikes. System operators can monitor
conditions at the substation and, as needed, reset the devices
remotely to reduce the size and duration of an outage.
The project is one of numerous distribution and transmission
infrastructure projects totaling about $156
million that FirstEnergy Corp. plans to work on in 2018 for
the Potomac Edison service area.
Potomac Edison, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., serves about
265,000 customers in seven Maryland counties and about 140,000 customers
in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Follow Potomac
Edison at www.potomacedison.com, on Twitter @PotomacEdison, and on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/PotomacEdison.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational
excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one
of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving
customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, West Virginia,
Maryland and New York. The
company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles
of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Visit FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com
and follow on Twitter at @FirstEnergyCorp.
Editor's Note: Photos of crews building the new
Potomac Edison distribution line in northern Frederick County, Maryland are available for
download on Flickr.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.